A leaked memo has revealed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is changing how it reports the deaths of people in its custody to Congress.
The controversial agency’s acting director David Venturella sent a memo to staff on Thursday announcing that ICE will no longer be required to report deaths occurring within 30 days of a person’s release from custody, a Biden-era directive.
“ICE is returning to the standard practice of reporting deaths that occur while an individual is in agency custody,” Venturella wrote, according to The Washington Post, which reviewed the memo.
The eyebrow-raising move comes after ICE reported the deaths of 18 detainees this year, on pace to exceed last year’s total of at least 30 deaths, the highest figure in two decades, according to the Post. Though all of the individuals were still under ICE custody at the time of their deaths, many died after they were taken to hospitals.
The policy change also comes amid growing scrutiny of ICE’s medical care in its facilities and amid protests at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, where detainees launched a hunger strike over the institution’s supposedly rotten food, broiling heat, and the withholding of medical care.
First implemented in 2021 under the Biden administration, the 30-day reporting rule was intended to hold ICE accountable for people it released with serious medical conditions, Deborah Fleischaker, the agency’s acting chief of staff at the time, told the Post. It came in the wake of cases like that of Martin Vargas Arellano, who contracted COVID-19 while in ICE detention in California and died three days after his release.
“The policy changed to make clear that ICE should not release people simply to avoid deaths in custody,” Fleischaker said.
When reached for comment, an ICE spokesperson told the Daily Beast in a statement, “Under this updated policy, when an individual is no longer in ICE custody then ICE will no longer be responsible for monitoring or reviewing deaths that may occur. This is common sense. ICE is not responsible when an individual passes away weeks after leaving their custody.”
“This updated policy outlines procedures for timely notification, review and reporting of deaths occurring in ICE custody, including notifying next of kin, consulates, Congress and the public,” the spokesperson added.
They said that immigrants in ICE custody receive “comprehensive medical care.”
“This is the best healthcare many aliens have received in their entire lives,” they claimed.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
